there be other crops less forward for them to feed upon.

In the year 1799, these destructive insects were carried away into the Western Ocean by a violent hurricane; and the shores were afterwards covered with their dead bodies, which in many places emitted a pestilential smell; that is, wherever the land was low, or where the salt water had not washed them; to this event succeeded a most abundant crop of corn, the lands which had lain fallow for years, being now cultivated; but the produce of the cultivation was accompanied with a most infectious and deadly plague, a calamity of which the locusts have often been observed to be the fore-runners.

The following is the statement of Paulus Orosius:-"In the consulship of Marcus Plausius Hypsæus, and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, Africa scarce breathing from bloody wars, a terrible and extraordinary destruction ensued; for now throughout Africa an infinite multitude of locusts were collected, and having devoured the growing corn, and consumed the vegetables, and leaves of the trees, their tender boughs, and their bark, they were finally driven, by a sudden and tempestuous wind, into the air, and being driven by the wind through the air, at length were drowned in the sea: their carcases, loathsome and putrified, being cast up by the waves of the sea in immense heaps, and in all parts of the shore, bred an incredible and infectious smell, after which followed so general a pes tilence of all living creatures, that the dead bodies of cattle, wild beasts, and fowls, corrupted by dissolution, filled the atmosphere with a contagious miasma, and augmented the fury of the plague; but how great and extraordinary a death of men there was, I cannot but tremble to report: in Numidia, where Micipsa was the king, died eighty thousand persons; on the sea-coast, near Carthage and Utica, about two hundred thousand are reported to have perished; from the city of Utica itself were, by this means, swept from the face of the earth, thirty thousand soldiers, who were appointed to be the garrison of Africa; and the destruction was so violent, according to report, that from one gate of Utica were carried to be buried, in one and the same day, the bodies

of above fifteen hundred of the aforesaid soldiers; so that by the grace of God (through whose mercy, and in confidence of whom I speak of these events) I boldly affirm that sometimes, even in our days, the locusts do much mischief, yet never before happened, in the time of the Christians, a calamity so insupportable as this scourge of locusts, which, when alive, are insufferable, and after their death produce much more pernicious consequences; which, if they had lived, would have destroyed every vegetable thing; but being dead, destroyed, through the plague which they produced, all earthly creatures."

The Saharawans, or Arabs of the desert, rejoice to see the clouds of locusts proceeding towards the north, anticipating therefrom a general mortality, which they call (el-khere), the good, or the benediction; for after depopulating the rich plains of Barbary, it affords to them an opportunity of emanating from their arid recesses in the desert, to pitch their tents in the desolated plains, or along the banks of some river; as was done by one of the kabyles of Tuat, after the plague had depopulated Barbary in the summer and autumn of 1799, and the spring of 1800, when these wild Arabs poured into Draha from Sahara, and settled along the banks of the river from that devastated country.

Locusts are esteemed a great delicacy, and during the above periods dishes of them were generally served up at the principal repasts; there are various ways of dressing them: that usually adopted was to boil them in water half an hour; then sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and fry them, adding a little vinegar; the head, wings, and legs are thrown away, the rest of the body is eaten, and resembles the taste of prawns. As the criterion of goodness in all eatables among the Moors is regulated by the stimulating qualities which they possess, so these locusts are preferred to pigeons, because supposed to be more invigorating. A person may eat a plate-full of them, containing two or three hundred, without any ill effects.

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When the locust is young it is green; as grows it assumes a yellow hue, and lastly becomes brown. I was informed by an Arab, who had seen the (sultan jeraad) King of the

locusts, that it was larger and more beautifully coloured than the ordinary one; but I never myself could procure a sight of it.

The scorpion (el akarb).-The scorpion is generally two inches in length, and resembles so much the lobster in its form, that the latter is called by the Arabs (akerb d'elbahar). the sea-scorpion: it has several joints or divisions in its tail, which are supposed to be indicative of its age; thus, if it have five, it is considered to be five years old. The poison of this reptile is in its tail, at the end of which is a small, curved, sharp-pointed sting, similar to the prickle of a buck-thorn tree; the curve being downwards, it turns its tail upwards when it strikes a blow.

The scorpion delights in stony places, and in old ruins; in some stony parts of the district of Haha they abound so much, that on turning up the stones, three or four will be found under each. Some are of a yellow colour, others brown, and some black; the yellow possess the strongest poison, but the venom of each affects the part wounded with frigidity; which takes place soon after the sting has been inflicted.

During the summer, the city of Morocco is so infested with this venomous reptile, that it is not uncommon to find them in the beds: all persons, therefore, who visit Morocco at this season of the year, should have the feet of their bedsteads placed in tubs or pans of water; this precaution will also prevent the attack of bugs, which in summer are a perfect nuisance; but the inhabitants are accustomed to all these sorts of inconveniences, and care not about them.

Most families in Morocco keep a bottle of scorpions infused in olive oil, which is used whenever any person is stung by them; for although the scorpion carries an antidote in itself, it is not always to be caught, as it often stings a person whilst asleep, and disappears before he awakes, or thinks of looking for it; in which event the body of the live scorpion cannot of course be procured. It is necessary to bind the part, if possible, above the place stung, then to cauterize, and afterwards to scarify the puncture, to prevent the venom from pervading the system; this method is sometimes effectual, and sometimes not, according to the situation of the part wounded,

and the nature of the scorpion, some being more poisonous than others; but where the flesh of the reptile can be obtained, the cure is certain and effectual.

Serpents and noxious animals are numerous. The domestic serpent claims some attention. In the city of Morocco these animals abound; there is scarcely a house without its domestic serpent, which is sometimes seen moving along the roofs of the apartments; they are never molested by the family, who would not hurt them on any consideration, conceiving them a benediction on the household they have been known to suck the breast: of women whilst asleep, and retire without offering any further injury. They are s susceptible as to be sensible of enmity to wards them, and it is thought imprudent to incur their displeasure; for this reason the inhabitants of Morocco treat them kindly. and as members of the family, not wishing to disturb an animal that claims the righte of hospitality by settling in their house.

The tortoise (fackrone)-Land tortoises of a very large size abound in Barbary and in Suse, where, in the afternoon of a hot day, one may collect a dozen in the course of an hour. They are esteemed good eating by the French, and the inhabitants of the shores of the Mediterranean. The wonderful geometrical construction of this animal is such that it will bear a ton-weight on its back.

In Sahara, the turpins, or land-tortoises, are reported to be very large, weighing four, five, or six hundred weight; but I never heard of any like those found at the time Leo Africanus wrote, who mentions a man who had seen one as big as a tun, and he himself says he saw one the size of a barrel

Among the various animals which the Arabs hunt for sport or profit, that which most fully rewards their exertions is the ostrich: a party of about twenty Arabs mounted on the desert horses, set out toge ther, riding gently against the wind, one after the other, at the distance of about half a mile asunder; they walk on, tracing the footmarks, till they discover those of the ostrich, which they then follow; when they come in sight of their game, they rush towards it at full speed, always keeping nearly the same distance as at first; the bird finding her

wings an impediment to her progress against the wind, turns towards the horsemen, and after escaping the first and second, is perhaps shot, or brought down by the third or fourth, or some of those that follow; they are, however, often a whole day in the chase before they secure their bird. Were it not for this stratagem, aided by the stupidity of the ostrich, it would be impossible to take it; thus we see, that Providence, whenever it gives any extraordinary quality to an animal, gives also another to neutralise that quality, and thereby to bring it under the power of man. The Saharawans carry musquets, but in hunting the ustrich they rarely use them, trusting rather to their zerwata, which is a stick about two feet long and three inches in circumference, taken from the alk soudan tree, or the tree that produces the Senegal gum, being a nard close-grained heavy wood; this zerwata they throw with extraordinary dexterity at the legs of the birds, and by breaking, or maiming them, impede their progress, and by that means secure them. Having cut the throat according to the Mahometan practice, they pluck off the feathers and divide them, as well as the carcase, into different portions: on these occasions, as on all others, whether in hunting, pillaging, or attacking (the akkabahs) accumulated caravans from Soudan, they divide the booty into as many shares as there are persons to partake, caring but little about the equality of them; then each person taking something that he has about him (such as a key, a knife, or a piece of money), he puts it into the corner of a hayk or garment, and covers it over, waiting till some stranger or uninterested person appears, whom they engage to take out of the garment, before mentioned, the different articles deposited therein, and to place one on each of the parcels or lots of feathers and meat, when each person takes up that portion on which the article belonging to him is placed; they then separate, and retire to their respective douas, where they regale themselves and their families with the produce of their sport. The flesh of the ostrich is by no means palatable to an European; it is a dark-coloured and strong meat; the fat is much esteemed in medicine for all kinds of bruises and

sprains, and is sold at a very high price; but money will not always procure it, friendship or hospitality being more powerful in these regions than even money itself. This medicine, therefore, is often procurable only through the former. The feathers are sold by the hunters to the agents of the merchants of Mogodore, established at Wedinoon, for the purpose of tranportation finally to Europe, to adorn the heads of our fashionable females.

The (dubbah) hyæna.-The dubbah, a term which designates the hyæna among the Arabs, is an animal of a ferocious countenance; but in its disposition more stupid than fierce; it is found in all the mountains of Barbary, and wherever rocks and caverns are seen this extraordinary animal has the opposite quality of the deeb, having a vague and stupid stare, insomuch that a heavy dull person is designated by the term dubbah. The flesh of this animal is not eaten, except in cases of extreme hunger: those, however, who have tasted it assert that it causes stupefaction for a certain time; hence, when a person displays extraordinary stupidity, the Arabs say (kula ras dubbah), he has been eating the head of a hyæna.

The mode of hunting this animal is singular. A party of ten or twelve persons, accompanied with as many dogs of various kinds, go to the cavern which they have previously ascertained to be the haunt of the hyæna; one of the party then strips himself naked, and taking the end of a rope with a noose to it in one hand, he advances gradually into the cave, speaking gently, and in an insinuating tone of voice, pretending to fascinate the hyæna by words; when he reaches the animal, he strokes him down the back, which appears to soothe him; he then dexterously slips the noose round his neck, and instantly pulling the rope to indicate to those on the outside of the cave who hold the other end, that it is fixed, he retires behind, throwing a handkerchief or cloth over the eyes of the hyæna; the men then pull the rope from without, whilst he who fixes the noose urges the animal forward, when the dogs attack him. Some of the Shelluhs are very expert at securing the hyæna in this manner, and although there

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may be some danger in case the rope breaks, yet the man who enters the cave always carries a dagger, or large knife with him, with which he has considerably the advantage, for this animal is by no means so ferocious as he appears to be. In the southern Atlas I have seen them led about by the boys; a rope being fastened round the animal's neck, and a communicating rope attached to it on either side, three or four yards long, the end of each being held by a boy, keep him perfectly secure. It is confinement that is inimical to a hyæna, and which increases his ferocity. There are other modes of hunting this stupid animal, either in the night with dogs, or by shooting him; but he never comes out of his cave in the day-time, but sits at the further end of it, staring with his eyes fixed. Their general character is not to be afraid of man, uor indeed to attack or avoid him; they will, however, attack and destroy sheep, goats, poultry, asses, and mules, and are very fond of the intoxicating herb called hashisha. The hyæna is said to live to a great age.

The gazel (antelope).-The gazel is that pretty light and elegant animal, swift as the wind, timid as a virgin, with a soft, beautiful, large and prominent black eye, which seems to interest you in its favour. In its general appearance, the gazel resembles our deer; it is, however, much smaller, and has straight black horns, curving a little backwards. The eye and figure of the gazel, so well known to all Arabian poets, are emblematical of beauty, and the greatest compliment that can be paid to a beautiful woman is to compare her eyes to those of the gazel. Much art is employed by the Arabian females to make their eyes appear like those of this delicate animal. Eyes originally black and

lively, are made to appear larger and more languishing by tinging the outer corner with el kahol filelly, a preparation of lead-ore, procured from Tafilet, which gives an apparent elongation to the eye. The eye-lashes, and eye-brows being also blackened with this composition, they appear peculiarly soft and languishing; it is said also to improve and strengthen the sight. Every one who has accurately observed the eye of the African gazel will acquiesce in the aptness of the simile before alluded to. The word angel, so often employed by our poets to designate a beautiful female, is with the Arabs transformed to gazel.

Great numbers of gazels are found in all those extensive plains situated at the foot of the Atlas mountains: in the plains of Fruga, south of Morocco, after descending the Atlas, they appear in a flock a hundred together; they also abound in the plains of Sheshawa near Anek Junmel. Wild as the hare, and more fleet than the Barbary courser, they are seen bounding over the plains in large numbers. The antelope, however, soon fatigues, so that the horses of the Arabs gain on it, and the dogs are enabled finally to come up with it; it is hunted rather for the meat (which is similar to venison,) than for any regular sport, the Arabs having little desire to hunt merely for amusement. They kill and cut the throats of as many animals as they can procure. They often hunt the gazel with the (slogie) African greyhound, a peculiarly fine breed of which is produced in the province of Suse. The Arabs and Moors, whilst hunting the antelope, often throw (zerwâta) thick sticks about two feet long at their legs, to break them, and thereby incapacitate them from running; a cruel device, at which the natural predilection för this delicate and beautiful animal recoils